Apparently, for some people, a seat in the state legislature is a steppingstone

There are a large number of current and former state legislators who are candidates for offices that aren't in the lege.  To whit:

(at the state level)

Joe Chaplik (R) (former legislator) is running in CD1.

Amish Shah (D) (former) is running in CD1.

Eric Descheenie (D) (former) is running in CD2.

John Fillmore (?) (former) running in CD4.  He was an R in the lege, but is running in the No Labels primary.

Andy Biggs (R) (former) is running for Governor.

David Schweikert (R) (former) is running for Governor.

Katie Hobbs (D) (former) is running for reelection as Governor.

Alexander Kolodin (R) (current) is running for Secretary of State.

Warren Petersen (R) (current) is running for Attorney General.

Tom Horne (R) (former) is running for reelection as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Kimberly Yee (R) (former) is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Ralph Heap (R) (current) is running for Corporation Commission.

David Marshall, Sr. (R) (current) is running for Corporation Commission.

(at the Maricopa County level)

Jeff Dial (R) (former) is running for reelection as Clerk of Superior Court.

Lupe Chavira Contreras (D) (current) is running for Justice of the Peace (JP) in the Agua Fria Justice Precinct.

Ken Cheuvront (D) (former) is running for reelection as Justice of the Peace (JP) in the Encanto Justice Precinct.

Michele Reagan (R) (former) is running for reelection as Justice of the Peace (JP) in the McDowell Mountain Justice Precinct.

JD Mesnard (R) (current) is running for Justice of the Peace (JP) in the San Marcos Justice Precinct.

Rebecca Rios (R) (former) is running for reelection as Justice of the Peace (JP) in the South Mountain Justice Precinct.

Judy Schweibert (D) (former) has filed an SOI to run for the At-Large slot on the Maricopa County Community College Board.  As this is a non-partisan race, it's not on the county's list of races subject to a primary election.

(on the Pima County level)

Andres Cano (D) (former) is running for a two-year term on the Board of Supervisors District 5.

Victoria Steele (D) (former) is running for reelection as Justice of the Peace (JP) in the Precinct 1 Justice Precinct.

I couldn't find an official list of candidates for Pinal County.

Nor did I examine the smaller counties, school board races, or municipalities.

I cannot speculate about what this means, but 22 current or former members of the lege are running for offices other than legislative ones in 2026 and expect that number to increase in 2028 (when county supervisor spots, county-wide offices, and the rest of the JP slots are up for election.)

Lastly, I do have one piece of advice for legislator making a first time run at a JP spot - it's a real job.

This is not a partisan thing, as some Democrats have turned out to be lousy JPs while some Rs have been decent ones, however, with a new one, there's always the fear that they'll bring their legislative work ethic with them (i.e. - work four days per week, work a little over three months per year, take lots of vacations, etc.)